Discussion and Vocabulary
THE NATURE OF
SCIENCE
Vocabulary
 Science—way of learning more about
the natural world.
 Scientific Theory—Attempt to explain a
pattern observed
repeatedly in the natural
world.
 Scientific Law—Rule that describes a
pattern in nature.
 System—Collection of structures, cycles, and
process that relate to and interact
with each other
Types of Sciences
 Life Science—Study of living systems and
the ways in which they
interact.
 Earth Science—Study of Earth’s systems
and systems in space.
 Physical Science—Study of matter and
energy.
 Applied Science—Another word for
Careers in Science--Vocabulary
 Technology—Practical use of science, or
applied science.
 Engineers apply science to develop
technology such as—fiber optics to
transmit info., material to help swimmers
slip through the water faster by studying
how shark skin repels water.
Careers in Science continued
Chemists ask questions such as “how can I make plastic
stronger?” or “what can I do to make aspirin more
effective”.
Physicists might ask other types of questions, such as
“How does light travel through glass fibers?” or “How
can humans harness the energy of sunlight/wind for
their energy needs?”
Ultrasound/X-ray techs work in the medical field and
study physical science because they study the energy
in U/V or X-rays and how it affects a living system.
Science in Action cont.
 Science—Involves asking questions.
 Some skills scientists use to gain knowledge
are thinking, observing, predicting,
investigating, researching, modeling,
measuring, analyzing, and inferring.
 Science can also advance with luck and
creativity.
 Investigations follow a general pattern as
illustrated in the next slide.
Science in Action
Scientific Method
More
 You observe something then ask a question
about what you observed.
 Collect information through research by talking
to other scientists, read books, and scientific
magazines to learn all they can about what is
already known about their question.
 Scientists may make more observation, make a
model or perform investigations.
Scientific Method cont.
 Questioning and observing leads to taking a
guess. This guess has a name: hypothesis
 Hypotheses—a reasonable and educated
possible answer based on what you know and
what you observe.
 Analyze the hypotheses by asking if any other
possible explanations exist.
 Make a prediction—if your hypothesis is correct
what would you expect to happen?
Then…..
 Test your Hypothesis—by performing an
investigation.
 Organize your findings in a chart, table or graph
for ease in drawing conclusions as in the
example on the next slide.
Wow movin’ on
 Drawing conclusions—when you draw
conclusions you use all the data from your
observations/investigations to make an
inference.
 Infer-making an inference or to infer means
to draw a conclusion based on what you
observe.
 Then you must communicate your findings.
Communicating Findings
 WHY—So other scientists can continue the work
of another scientist or try to duplicate the work
of another scientists.
 HOW—Writing reports, making graphs-chartstables, speeches to other scientists.
 WHAT—The results of the investigation as well
as the methods by which the investigation was
done.
 WHERE—Science journals, books, on the
Internet, make speeches at meetings
EXPERIMENTS
One way to investigate a question involving
the effect of one factor on another is a
 Controlled experiment—involves changing
one factor and observing its effect on
another while keeping all other factors
constant.
 Variables—factors that can be changed in
an experiment
 Constants—variables that are not changed
in an experiment.
LAB SAFETY
 Keep yourself and those around you safe
by obeying the safety symbol warnings.
More Safety
To test the odor of fumes you should—
Waft the fumes toward your nose.
To dispose of chemicals after lab—
Follow teachers instructions.
If you spill something you should—
Clean it up immediately and tell the teacher.
People with long hair should—
Tie it back.
If you get chemicals on your skin you shouldRinse with cool water for 15 minutes and tell the teacher.
Safety—The rest of the story
Before heating glassware, make sure—
It is not cracked or broken
When working with chemicals, heat or glassware you
should wear—
Safety goggles
When working with a hot container you—
Use tongs or gloves to pick it up
After handling an chemicals in lab you—
Should wash your hands
Hooray—On to Models
 Types:
 Physical
Computer
Idea
the
mathematical
equation
E = mc2
What can Models do?
 Models Communicate—observations and
ideas to other people.
 Models Test Predictions—test how air
bags in cars will work.
 Models Save Time, Money and Lives-safer and less expensive than
using the real thing. Crash-test
dummies for example.
Limitations of Models
 Models change as new observation and
discoveries are made.
Critical thinking—combining what you already know
with the new facts you are given and decide if you
should agree with something.
You DID It!!!!!